Food-treatment apparatus with washing means



United States Patent Inventor Paul Sauer,

Burg, Germany App]. No. 778,123

Filed Nov. 22, 1968 Patented Dec. 29, 1970 Assignee Burger Eisenwerke AG.

Postfach, Germany, a corporation of Germany FOOD-TREATMENT APPARATUS WITH WASHING MEANS 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 126/21, 126/273: 134/l02, 134/169 Int. Cl B08b 3/00; F24c 15/32 FieldofSmrch 126/1, 21,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,074,393 1/1963 Keating l26/21A 3,261 ,343 7/1966 Tibell 126/21A 3,329,529 7/1967 Lamar... 134/115X 3,373,754 3/1968 Squire 134/580 Primary Examiner-Charles J. Myhre Attorney-Karl F. Ross ABSTRACT: A food-treatment apparatus having an air circulator for displacing heated air in a food-treatment chamber has washing means to permit easy cleansing thereof. The washing means is a pipe which introduces a cleansing liquid into the path of air circulation so that this liquid is distributed through the apparatus.

PATENTEDnmzszsm 3.550.576

Paul Saver INVENTOR.

WA 6RD Attorney FOOD-TREATMENT APPARATUS WITH WASHING MEANS My invention relates to a food-treatment apparatus with washing means.

Food-treatment apparatuses are known for the cooking and wanning of meat, baked goods, and other comestibles. Such apparatuses often are equipped with an air-circulating blower which recirculates the air in-the apparatus through a heater to heat the food.

Such apparatuses present one enormous difficulty: they are extremely difficult to clean. Many of their interior surfaces, which are covered with the residue of many cooking operations, are nearly inaccessible and necessitate near total disassembly of the apparatus to clean it properly. This obviously is a lengthy, difficult, and, above all, expensive operation.

Therefore it is an object of my invention to provide an apparatus in which this cleansing operatio is facilitated.

I do this by providing my apparatus {ithwashing means in the form of a circular spray pipe dispos d in front of the axial input of an axial-input radial-output bl Rver serving as the air circulating blower for my invention. C ieansing liquid can be introduced through this spray pipe intogthe path of the circulating air and can thereby be spread all over the interior surfaces of the apparatus. This spray pipe 'is advantageously circular so that the air suckedthrough it by the blower entrains the cleansing liquid extremely well.

My invention will be morespecifically described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through the apparatus according to my invention; I

F l0. 2 is a section taken alongline ll-ll of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an elevation of the spray nozzle.

A housing 9 defines a food-treatment chamber which encloses a rack 14 fitted with ledges 15 on which a self 17 carrying a piece of food 18 can slide. The rack 14 is spaced from I the housing 9 by spacers l9 defining areas 4 and 5 and by perforated plates 20 and is formed with slots 16 for passage of air therethrough.

' t A blower 1 mounted on a partition l2 and powered by a motor 11 enclosed by a plate 10 has axial input la and radial outputs lb. Thisblower 1 displaces air heated by a heating'ele- 7, having a circular pipe 7b provided with an inlet 70 and spray nozzles 7c which can dispense cleansing liquid-preferably an alkaline solution or organic solvent to dissolve fats-into the input In of the blower 1.

A door 21 is hinged at '22 to permit access to the chamberS.

In order to claim the apparatus, cleansing liquid is simply versed into a cup 8 while the blower l is running. This liquid is sucked into the axial input la and blown out through the output 1b and thereby spread all over the interior surfaces of the apparatus. Every surface which is customarily reached by the circulating air and therefore covered with cooking residue is reached by this liquid and thus washed. After allowing a brief period for the liquid to soak in, the most exposed surfaces can simply be rinsed or wiped off, and the apparatus is cleaned inside.

The improvement described and illustrated is believed to admit of many modifications within the ability of persons skilled in the art, all such modifications being considered within the spirit and scope of the invention except as limited by the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A food-treatment apparatus, comprising: housing means defining a food-treatment chamber; air circulating means including a blower having an housing means defining a food-treatment chamber;

air-circulating means including a blower having an axial input and a radial output in said housing means for displacing heated air along a circulation path passing through said chamber; and washing means arranged in front of said axial input and located proximal to said air-circulating means, said washing means including a substantially circular spray pipe lying in a plane substantially transverse to said path for introducing a cleansingliquid for said chamber into the circulated air along a portion of said path.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 further comprising heating means disposed adjacent said radial output for heating the air emerging therefrom. V

3. A food-treatment apparatus, comprising housing means defining a food-treatment chamber; an air-circulating blower in said housing means for .displacing heated air along a circulation path passing through said chamber, said blower having an input for drawing air along said path and 'an output for expelling the air into said chamber; and a spray pipe disposed in front of said input for discharging a spray of cleansing liquid into the circulating air drawn into said blower and passing along said path. 

